“It’s a scandal that the CDC’s 400,000 deaths estimate didn’t use this information, which was readily available on the agency’s computers … The American public deserves to know where the CDC stands on this greatly reduced number and whether obesity is truly worse than the Black Death, as you have stated.”

That the CDC would distance itself from this recent study is particularly disturbing when you consider that Donna Stroup, a top CDC scientists and co-author of the original 400,000-figure study, told the Times: “From a scientific point of view, they are a step forward.” So why won’t the CDC officially endorse this study done by some of its own researchers?

The study did not explain why overweight appeared best as far as mortality was concerned. But Dr. Williamson [a co-author of the recent study] said the reason might be that most people die when they are over 70. Having a bit of extra fat in old age appears to be protective, he said, giving rise to more muscle and more bone. “It’s called the obesity paradox,” Dr. Williamson said.